The invention relates to a steam kiln for the permanent setting of creases in fabrics provided with previously laid folds, consisting of a cabinet provided with a tightly sealing loading door and having heating elements in its interior for the reheating of steam injected into the cabinet interior.
In such steamers, the pieces of fabric which are later to be made into pleated skirts, for example, are treated with steam, being folded and clamped in so-called pleating molds. By the steam treatment and subsequent cooling the pleats are permanently set in the pieces of fabric and they can then be made into skirts. Other patterns of pleats created with pleating molds or by machinery in webs of fabric are set by means of steamers of the kind described. The heating of the steamers is performed usually by means of electrical resistance heating elements disposed in the interior of the cabinet, while a heated water pan integral with the cabinet is provided in the latter for the production of steam. If desired, a connection can also be made to an external steam generator, if one is available, such as one being used in conjunction with a steam pressing machine for example.
The known steamers have a high energy consumption which is to be attributed not only to high radiation loss due to insufficient thermal insulation, but also to the fact, among others, that, when the cabinet is loaded, the pleating molds or machine-pleated rolls of fabric have to be arranged individually in the cabinet or removed individually after steaming. A large part of the heat and steam produced in the preceding steaming cycle then escapes through the loading door when it is opened. It has furthermore been observed that during the steaming process different temperatures establish themselves at different levels in the cabinet, i.e., a temperature gradient occurs. The heat input must then, however, be adjusted such that the lowest temperature produced in the cabinet is sufficiently high so as to assure a perfect setting of the pleats. The resistance heating elements serving to heat the cabinets are operated during certain phases of operation of the cabinet at such temperatures that they are incandescent. Although the heating elements in the known cabinets are disposed preferably only in the upper part of the interior space, it can happen, if the loading is not performed carefully, that the fabrics will be singed or at least overheated by the incandescent heating elements, and it is essential to avoid this in the case of the modern synthetic fibers used in the fabrics especially designed for such pleating.
It is the object of the invention to create an improved steam kiln which will offer substantial energy savings simpler and quicker charging, as well as a more uniform heating of the cabinet interior. At the same time, the danger of excessively low or high steam temperatures in individual areas of the cabinet is to be reliably prevented.